Homeopathy "no better than placebo"

Homeopathic remedies are no more beneficial than dummy treatments, a leading medical journal has said today.

A British and Swiss study of high quality large-scale trials of homeopathic remedies has found no evidence that this alternative approach is better than a placebo.

The Lancet has urged doctors to be "bold and honest" with their patients about the lack of benefits of homeopathy.

In an accompanying editorial, medics are also encouraged to be candid with themselves about "the failings of modern medicine to address patients' needs for personalised care".

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Supporters of homeopathy say the treatment works on the basis of treating like with like. For example an allergy to a substance will be remedied with a dilute solution of that agent.

But critics argue that the treatments are so dilute, the remedies used do not contain a single molecule of the agent, and could not have an effect. Homeopathists explain the diluting process leaves an "imprint" of the substance in the remedy.

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Three years ago the stakes in the long running battle between homeopathy sceptics and proponents were raised. An American illusionist offered $1million to anyone who could prove the curative effects of homeopathy under lab conditions. The prize remains unclaimed.

In the Lancet paper published today, Professor Matthias Egger of the University of Berne explains his team compared 110 placebo-controlled, randomised trials of homeopathy with 110 conventional-medicine trials for a variety of medical disorders.

In both groups they found that smaller, lower quality trials showed a larger beneficial effect than the larger, higher quality trials.

But when focussing exclusively on the larger, higher quality trials, analysis showed there was no convincing evidence that homeopathy was superior to placebo. However, the benefits of conventional medicine remained apparent.

Despite continuing scientific dismissal of homeopathists' claims, the business is burgeoning and treatments are available on the NHS.

Professor Egger suspects that lengthy consultations with practitioners who have time to take an interest in their patients may explain why many people feel they benefit from homeopathic treatment.

Earlier this week, US scientists published evidence showing, for the first time, the processes in the brain prompted by a placebo treatment.

Researchers from the University of Michigan found that the belief that a medicine will ease discomfort is enough for the brain to release its own painkillers.

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